If you think logos, corporate identity and any other brand logos are truly original these days… think again. There’s plenty company, the world over. Whether doppelgängers, look-alikes, wannabes, copies, or plain plagiarism, similarities abound. Sheer coincidence?

Hey, in the era of internet, anything is possible! An ever changing, ever amassing encyclopedia of visual identity is just a click away. I’ve found them, surely others have too! (I meant all the graphic designers, web developers, and brandologists who may have been inspired by the same visual!)

You don’t need to search far and wide to realize that the modern homo sapiensis is inspired by the same thing when it comes to creating logos and corporate identities. The internet has brought the world to our fingertips like never before. Images that we’ve never had access to, or could only see on TV or read in the news irregularly and without our control, are now in cyberspace. All awaiting our discovery… that is if you know where to look. Having the world so much closer, and on our screens, also means that we can see how more similar we all are. How we see our own immediate environments and how that inspires us. Including how businesses and organizations communicate their message through their identity. After all, a Logo is the primary visual identity that the outside world sees. And the internet has enabled us to see the similarities in corporate identity from distant shores, representing organizations that are vastly different and yet have somehow been inspired by the same idea. All brought together by a similar vocabulary of design language!And although two logos may be close to identical, the message they emit is not the same. For its the meaning that customers attach to them according to their culture that gives them the value. In other words, a logo is a sign or symbol that carries a meaning.

“People only value things that have meanings.

Brand building occurs when brand owners understand the meanings of their brands in the customers’ minds. The strongest brands are those that are able to connect with customers on an emotional level through an engaging relationship built on mutual trust. Just like an old friend.

Recognizing this is key to building stronger brands that go beyond functional, and tap into the emotional and symbolic meanings. After all, people value more what things mean than what things are!”